The Eventers Club

Chapter 3:

Evelyn's POV:

I sucked in a breath as my mother roughly ran a brush through my hair, talking my ear off aimlessly.

" Now that all the working riders have arrived, it's time for your meeting with Darla. You have to look your best "

I bit my tongue to avoid questioning why we had to look our best when the meeting was taking place in the indoor arena, but I knew better than to speak out against my parents' plans...the result wouldn't be good.

I glanced at my reflection while my mother worked on braiding my hair. Sometimes it was hard for me to believe she really was my mother as our appearances clashed so tensely. Her tall, slender figure made my more hourglass shaped body seem...fatter. Her bright blonde hair made my dark brown hair even darker and her pale skin and bright blue eyes made my tanned skin and green eyes appear as if I was wearing colored contacts and spent too much time in a tanning bed.

I winced as she tugged at a loose strand of hair that refused to stay in the braid.

She sighed in frustration. " I don't understand why you insist on keeping your hair curly. It would be much more manageable if it were straight like mine, not to mention more professional during events like this... "

I rolled my eyes when she wasn't looking. This was hardly an event. Darla was simply explaining what the schedule for the summer would look like, how lessons would work and what shows the workers were allowed to participate in if they wanted to, which I had a feeling all of them would want to be in every single show they could. Competing for the Holloway Equestrian Center team was one of the best ways to get noticed by scouts who were looking to recruit for international teams and schooling opportunities. My parents had always said that getting into a school that offered a well known equestrian program was one of the first things I needed to achieve in order to make it to the Olympics.

With one final tug, my hair had been braided into a fancy up-do with a bun on top. Luckily I wasn't going to be riding at the meeting, or else my helmet wouldn't have fit on my head.

Mother smiled as she spun me around on the chair I was sitting on at her makeup desk. " There, now you look presentable "

' I look like I'm attending a fashion show ' I thought.

" Now " Mother snapped me out of my thoughts. " Your father and I have a little surprise for you... " she quickly walked into her walk-in closet, emerging with an outfit that was wrapped in plastic and on a hook, like a prom dress.

As she unzipped the protective plastic, my eyes widened.

Black designer breeches were the first things I saw, followed by a long-sleeved, dark violet polo-styled shirt with the Holloway stable crest on it.

However, the thing that most caught my eyes, was the boots.

Golden tall boots to be exact.

They gleamed in the light coming in from the Sunday afternoon sun and I almost didn't even want to touch them, they looked that expensive.

Mother smiled as she watched my reaction. " This should help you make some friends! "

' Or some enemies ' I thought. There was no way that this expensive outfit would help me make any real friends. If anything it would make the whole group of riders want to avoid me like the plague. Still, if I said any of that to my mother, she would probably call me ungrateful and make me wear the outfit anyway, so I forced a smile and took the outfit from her, changing quickly so I could get down to the barn and get this meeting over with much faster.

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The barn was quiet as I made my way inside. The horses were all munching happily on their lunch and not a single rider was in sight. I guessed they were all in their cabins, getting to know one another, as it was 4 people to a cabin, with girls taking up a majority of the population of summer workers. From what Darla had shown me on the list yesterday, there were 8 girls and 4 boys that had been chosen, so there would be one cabin of boys and two cabins for girls.

' Those Poor-boys ' I giggled silently at my own thoughts. ' Having to spend their entire summer riding with girls '

Before making a b-line to Hugo's stall, I decided to first check out which horses had been given to which riders. The riders names had been taped to the horses' stalls, but once the riders became familiar with which horses they had been given, the tape would be removed, or else my parents would probably have a fit about how it made the barn seem less 'presentable'.

As I passed by each of the six stalls that led to Hugo's, I gave each horse a good scratching while I read the names of the riders taped on their stalls.

Charger had been given to a boy named Adam, probably for the best as the hard-headed, blood bay stallion needed a strong rider to control him. There was a reason the stallions show-name was Deathbringer. Last time I had tried to ride him, I ended up with a fractured wrist after he threw me over a jump.

Next up was Surfer, a shorter palomino gelding who's nickname still made me laugh. His show name was Made of Gold, but he had earned the nickname Surfer due to his laid back personality and long blonde mane that sometimes covered his eyes. He had been given to a girl named Tina. I gave him a treat from my pocket before moving on.

Dolly was up after Surfer. She was a chestnut mare who behaved just like a chestnut mare did, so her nickname of Dolly had been earned ironically, and her show name was The Unbreakable Doll. She had been given to a boy named Tyler.

Halfway to Hugo's stall was Ella. My favorite mare in the whole barn, the gentle light grey had the personality of an angel. She had been a broodmare once but wasn't really mother material, so she became an eventer and showed her love for it by being perfectly behaved with any discipline, thus her show name, Perfect Angel. She had been given to a girl named Penny.

The second to last stall before Hugo was another stallion named Don. He was huge at over 18 hands and was solid black in color with no other markings. His show name was The Godfather and he had been given to a girl named Kelly, who I hoped didn't have a fear of heights, because riding the stallion felt like flying, but Don was also well behaved for a stallion so she wouldn't have to worry about bad behavior, as Don had never really shown any form of bad behavior, not even when he was being backed.

Finally, in the stall beside Hugo was...Beauty? Better known as New Moon, the black gelding with a stark white star on his forelock had been nothing more than a pasture ornament since winter. His usual rider, one who had formed a tight bond with him, had stopped riding to go to medical school. After the rider had left, Beauty had never really bonded with any other rider and although he was a horse who was fit and got into shape quickly, he was also lazy and sometimes unmotivated. He had been given to a girl named...Ashleigh. Glancing into the stall, the beautiful black gelding was calmly sleeping in the corner of the stall, his rump facing the door. He didn't even flick an ear as I clicked my tongue at him, so I moved on.

I stood in front of Hugo's stall door for a long time, afraid to go in and have him slobber on my clothes or scuff up my boots. It wasn't that I minded, but I knew my parents would kill me if even a speck of dirt got on the outfit, proving that it wasn't really a riding outfit, but a statement for all the new riders.

My parents thought it would be a positive statement, help me make friends, but I knew better than them. The outfit was a statement, but more of a statement that said 'that girl is stuck up and competitive, stay away from her' and while I was competitive, I liked to think that I was the furthest from stuck up that I could be, considering I had met more stuck up riders at shows, I knew how they acted.

Hugo stared at me, his ears flicking back and forth in confusion, probably wondering why I was just standing at the stall door and not opening it.

" Sorry boy " I replied as I grasped the black metal bars on the door. " You know how my parents are with dirt. I love you boy but I can't risk anything, not right now at least " I reached through the bars to put a hand on his nose. " You understand right? "

He sighed, his warm breath heating up my palm and making me smile.

Suddenly, the sound of voices approached the back door of the barn, making me panic. With one final look at Hugo, I quickly made my way to the arena, not wanting to be seen by anyone until we all came to see each other at the meeting.

Hugo's whinny echoed through the barn as I shut the arena door behind myself.